This is a transcript from an old episode of the 700 Club. The "Pat"
referred to is former Presidential candidate Pat Robertson.
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Children of the Rainbow in Georgia. 700 Club, week of March 1.
Pat: Well 2 weeks ago, the New York City school board voted out the
controversial chancellor Joseph Fernandez. The main reason for that
action came from the controversy of something called the Children of the
Rainbow curriculum, and that curriculum encouraged teachers to instruct
first graders about homosexuality. But the controversy over Sex Ed curri-
culum is not limited to New York City. Now another skirmish in sex educa-
tion over America's children is taking place. This time in the Bible
belt, the state of Georgia. Chris Mitchel brings us the story from
Atlanta.
Chris: New York City drew national attention because of the controv-
ersial Children of the Rainbow curriculum. But the children of New York
City are not the only ones caught in the crossfire over sex education.
It's a controversy that knows city, or state boundaries.
Georgia is just one more battle ground springing up all over the
country over the emotional issue of sex education. But some believe it's
more than sex education, but it's becoming "Sexual Politics." And the
question being fought over is "Who's ultimately responsible for the sex
education of the children? The parents or the state?"
Sue Ella Deadwyler, Georgia Insite - The children are not born to
the state. They're born to parents. The state is not supposed to control
the children. The children are supposed to be directed by their parents.
Joan Cates, Planned Parenthood of Atlanta - I think that they both
need to, that we both have to(parents *AND* state) absolutely, but kids
can hear messages school teachers that they might not listen to or hear
from a parent.
Chris: What's happened to Georgia's sex education? On April 1992,
Georgia Democratic Governor Zel Miller, vetoed a sex education bill, a
bill voted for by nearly EVERY legislator. Miller instead called for a
committee to review sex education in Georgia. The 24 member committee,
which included 19 health and education professionals, submitted its final
report in November of 1992. "Sex Education Review, Committee Report"
However, 3 member of the committee issued a minority report: "The Sex
Education Review Committee Report, Minority Report." that SHARPLY DIS-
AGREED with the majority's decisions. Sue Ella Deadwyler is the author of
the monthly newsletter, Georgia Insite. She observed nearly every meeting
of the sex education committee, and believes the MINORITY REPORT exposed
the REAL intentions of the majority of the sex review committee. It pro-
poses:
Sex Education Minority Report.
* The committee REFUSED TO UPHOLD the accepted definition of the fam-
ily.
* Parental permission WAS NOT REQUIRED before a child is taught
sex/aids education.
* Sex ed would NOT focus on abstinence until marriage.
* Homosexuality was put in a "Positive light" under the heading sex-
ual identity.
* A RESOLUTION that "all sex ed/aids instruction material shall
uphold Georgia law", WAS DEFEATED by a vote of 16 to 5.
Chris: Joan Cates, a member of the committee, and the director of
public affairs for Planned Parenthood in Atlanta, defends the committee's
vote to NOT uphold Georgia's laws on fornication, adultery, and sodomy.
Joan: Well, we feel very strongly that sex education should be com-
prehensive and accurate and factual, and that teenagers need information
about reducing the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
So, of course, we're not going to be in favor of something that's going
to have a "chilling" effect on that, and what's going to get in the way
of teachers being able to dialog honestly with students.
"Comprehensive, accurate, and factual." Will they mention that
homosexuals account for 50% of the syphilis cases? Will they even
mention the possibility that the newspaper survey was correct that
41 is your life expectancy if you practice this lifestyle?"
"teenagers need information" - This is convincing, but remember,
sex education now STARTS AT THE FIRST GRADE. First graders need all
the information on sodomy, using a condom for this? How many first
graders plan to become pregnant?
"dialog honestly" - Can a teacher tell why it is better to wait?
Would a teacher be able to "dialog honestly" with a student about a
possible tragedy she had with an abortion, or to invite an "abor-
tion victim" to come in and discuss the problems that they had, the
years they've dreamed, wondered about the child they threw away? I
hardly think so. NO, it's not "dialog honestly" but "further our
propaganda". At $200-400+ a crack, they've got to keep the number
of abortions up in order to stay in business.
If abstinence programs can take teen pregnancy from 140 to 20 in
one year, PP might go from $167 MILLION to $30-40 MILLION. That
would be quite a loss.
Sue: It's supposed to have a "chilling" effect, because children are
not supposed to be encouraged to engage in unlawful behavior. And actu-
ally promiscuous sex is what we're talking about, and that's not only
unlawful, it's unhealthy, and can be deadly in our day and age.
Chris: But what about the parents of Georgia students? After the
report was published, many parents objected to the recommendations. Eval-
een Butler is the wife of major league baseball player, Bret Butler. She
was one parent who saw a conflict of interest in many of the committee
members.
Evaleen: The more research I've done, I've really found that a lot of
special interest groups, maybe people who had a political agendas, or
other social agendas, are the ones who are getting on these committees,
and I'm not sure I understand their right to decide what my kid should be
taught in school, as far as sex education does.
Chris: Mrs. Butler says those opposing the sex education report are
often characterized as Fundamentalists, Right Wing, and Fanatical.
Evaleen: I think that's how we've been portrayed, as this group, this
one small group, and I haven't found that to be the case. I've found a
wide spectrum of parents from every type of values and beliefs systems
that just want something that's VALUE BASED, to protect their kids.
Since November, the State Board of Education, has revised parts of
the curriculum, and the final recommendation will be adopted in March.
Dolores Ayling spoke this past week to a group of parents in Georgia. She
had fought against the Children of the Rainbow curriculum in New York
City. She sees the issue of sex education as one FACING PARENTS COAST TO
COAST.
Dolores Ayling, Concerned Parents for Educational Accountability - A
lot of people said, you know, "Everybody's after New York, because the
way New York goes, the nation will go." I've got news for the NATION,
IT'S ALREADY GONE. So, IF CHRISTIAN PEOPLE THINK or middle class white
American think IT'S NOT GOING TO TOUCH THEM, THEY'RE ABOVE IT, THEY DON'T
KNOW HOW WRONG THEY ARE. And one day they're going to HAVE to deal with
it and I hope they don't have to deal with it with their own children.
Chris: Both Deadwyler and Ayling see a CONCERTED, ORGANIZED effort to
spread these curricula around the nation, and CIRCUMVENT PARENTS in the
process.
Sue: It's really covert education, and there is no place in our
society for covert education.
Chris: They're alarmed at what they see as an indoctrination of a
generation of school children with a pro-homosexual agenda, along with a
dangerous value system.
Dolores: They ACTUALLY TOLD US 20 YEARS AGO, or even more, what their
agenda was. "Get in the classroom, and get the children at an early age."
That was their agenda. And they're doing it, and WE'VE ALLOWED IT. And
it's ABOUT TIME THAT WE GOT UP AND SPOKE OUT.
Chris: Chris Mitchel, CBN News.
Pat: This is a steam roller that's going on, Ben, and it's so danger-
ous. It's going to destroy the families in America. It's going to destroy
the lives of innocent little children, because they're not ready for this
kind of thing. I mean they ought to be allowed to play, and have dolls,
or have choo-choo trains, or what ever in the world they want to do, or
have 4-H Clubs or something. But they should be ALLOWED TO DEVELOP with-
out all this sexuality being forced upon them by these deviants, and
that's what it is.
I mean these people, you know, there's a magazine called Sexology, I
think it is, and you see Mary Colderone who was the publisher of that
magazine, and you see her behind the move for this sex education, 10 or
15 years ago. And these people are, in their thinking, weird, in my opin-
ion. They are anti-family, anti-God, anti-traditional values, and they
want to open up our children to all kinds of bizarre sex, and it's WRONG.
I mean THIS IS TAXPAYER SUPPORTED. They say we can't have Bibles in the
school, we can't let the kids pray, but we're training them how to be
homosexuals. This is outrageous!
Ben: But people would say, some people would say, "Hey listen, give
us the right to make intelligent informed choices."
Pat: Sure, I give them a right. Parents, you teach your kids at home
any kind of sex you want to, and if it's illegal as it is in Georgia by
the way, sodomy is against the law. They'll go to jail. That's your
choice. But don't impose THAT KIND OF THING on the other children,
because little kids, 8, 9, 6.... THEY DON'T KNOW!!!
I mean, and they are supposed to respect their teacher, and if the
teacher says "Well, you're supposed to have sex, girls with girls and
boys with boys." then they'll think that's okay.
Ben: Because kids that age really don't know who they are. They
don't know what they are at this point.
Pat: No, they're just babies. It's AWFUL. It is absolutely awful
what's being done, and I hope and pray the people of Georgia and the rest
of the country because Fernandez out in New York is OUT. I mean, what
ever they tried to do, they fired him. Because there was such an uproar
in Queens and the other boroughs in New York. The people don't want this
kind of thing, and no it's not some "narrow minded, little group of Fun-
damentalists". This is broad based, MAIN STREAM AMERICA.
Ben: Pat, let me ask you a question. You just came back from Europe
and you were over there for a while. You had a chance to see. What is the
moral, what do you get of the tenor of the moral structure in Europe?
What do you feel is happening over there?
Pat: Well I was talking to a very prominent lawyer, and he was tel-
ling me when Meteron came in, that he began open hostility against people
with morality. And Meteron was a socialist in league with communists. And
it just seemed that this has been part of the Socialist agenda for a long
time to in a sense, undermine the family stricture because families are
the bulwark against collective society, the collectivists, the commu-
nists, the Nazis, and others, wanted the STATE to take charge of children
and indoctrinate them. And so this free sex movement, of course, but
"How's the morality?" Well, it's not very good, but the truth is, it's
worse in America right now.
I mean, Europe is in very bad shape spiritually, and America is get-
ting that way in terms of its sex practices, and we've just go to do
something to bring us back to the ways that would lead to health, and the
health and nurture of our children...